WORLD BRIEFING: September 17, 2023

In New York yesterday, I spoke about how Russia has been trying to infiltrate media and social media with its twisted narrative. The Kremlin troll machine Internet Research Agency has benefited from a monthly budget of $1.25 million to spread false news and narratives

Today marks 571 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine

One of Egypt’s best-known opposition journalists was sentenced to six months in prison on Saturday, as President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi’s government moves to silence influential critics ahead of coming presidential elections. The sentencing of Hisham Kassem, a 64-year-old writer and publisher and a founder of the liberal Free Current Movement, took place amid the arrests and prosecution of a number of activists or their close family and friends in recent months.Kassem has long been one of Egypt’s most outspoken advocates for democratic change, rising to prominence as the editor of the daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm, or the Egyptian Today, first published in 2004. In June, Kassem helped form a coalition of liberal parties and figures to call for a new president and government, under the argument that Sisi was endangering the country’s future - WSJ
The U.S. plans to redirect some of its foreign military financing allocated for Egypt to Taiwan over what it says is Egypt’s failure to make progress on human rights and other issues, according to U.S. officials. The Biden administration has notified Congress that it would withhold $85 million in aid conditioned on the release of political prisoners, officials said, and some lawmakers are pushing to withhold another $235 million in conditional assistance that goes to Egypt, amid growing calls by Democrats to penalize Cairo for its human-rights record - WSJ
Saudi Arabia has informed the Biden administration of its decision to halt all talks of normalizing ties with Israel on Sunday, the Arab news outlet Elaph cited an Israeli official in the Prime Minister's Office as saying. According to the unconfirmed report, Riyadh issued a message through the US, explaining that the "extremist" nature of Israel's right-wing government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "torpedoing any possibility of rapprochement with the Palestinians, and thus with the Saudis," as per Aleph - Jerusalem Post
In Libya, at least 6,000 are feared dead after a catastrophic cyclone hit the eastern city of Derna, causing two dams to burst and flooding whole sections of the city. Storm victims are being buried in mass graves as hope is dwindling for those who have been unable to locate friends and family members. Libya’s infrastructure has crumbled over years of civil war, NATO intervention and political instability; Derna’s dams have not been maintained since 2002. Ahead of the storm, the government did not declare an emergency or carry out evacuations. “It’s obviously our government’s fault,” says Libyan youth climate activist Nissa Bek in Tripoli. She notes Libya’s lack of investment in risk mitigation or climate adaptation means the scale of the disaster was not a surprise. “I’m hoping that this tragedy could be the turning point for all of this, and for them to actually take the climate crisis more seriously,” adds Bek - Democracy Now
China’s property market is in crisis. Real estate prices that skyrocketed over the past few decades have begun to fall back to Earth. Now the danger is that collapsing home values will also bring the world’s second-biggest economy down along with them - Bloomberg

President Biden travels to New York City to address the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Among the world leaders in attendance will be Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is also scheduled to address the assembly. Biden plans to meet with Zelensky, according to multiple officials familiar with the plans, but It remains unclear whether the meeting would occur in New York or later in the week at the White House. While in Washington, Zelensky also will visit the US Capitol, according to a GOP source, though he will not address a joint session of Congress and is instead expected to meet individually with lawmakers and members of leadership - CNN
Russian attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure are continuing, with Ukraine reporting on September 17 that an agricultural facility in the southern Odesa region had been hit in a Russian aerial attack. Russia launched six Iranian Shahed drones and 10 cruise missiles, with Ukraine's forces destroying six drones and six missiles before they hit their target, the Ukrainian Air Force said. "Fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units, mobile fire groups, and other means of attack were involved in repelling the air attack," the air force said - RFE/RL
Two cargo vessels were headed to Ukrainian ports on September 16, the first to use a temporary corridor to sail into Black Sea ports and load grain for African and Asian markets, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov told Reuters. Last month Ukraine announced a "humanitarian corridor" in the Black Sea to release ships trapped in its ports since the start of the war in February 2022 and circumvent a de facto blockade after Russia abandoned a deal to let Kyiv export grain. Five vessels have so far left the port of Odesa, using the corridor which hugs the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria - Reuters

Russia and Ukraine will square off before the International Court of Justice on Monday in a case that centers around claims by Moscow that its invasion of Ukraine was done to prevent genocide. Ukraine brought the case to the United Nations' highest court just days after the Russian invasion on Feb. 24 last year. Kyiv argues Russia is abusing international law by saying the invasion was justified to prevent an alleged genocide in eastern Ukraine.Russian officials continue to accuse Ukraine of committing genocide. Russia wants the case to be thrown out and objects to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The hearings, set to run until September 27, will not delve into the merits of the case and are instead focused on legal arguments about jurisdiction - Jerusalem Post
For Ukrainian soldiers struggling to make headway against entrenched Russian troops, the counteroffensive is taking on a new urgency as summer gives way to shorter days, drenching rain and then snow. Both Ukrainians and Russians are accustomed to biting cold, and the war has churned on during two winters, so ground troops won’t abandon the battlefield anytime soon. But relentless downpours can dissolve roads, and icy weather complicates basic operations from loading artillery shells to pulling a trigger. One worry is that Ukraine’s grueling assault on Russian defenses could eventually achieve a breach that its heavy armored equipment can’t quickly exploit because terrain is too muddy or snowy. For now, fighting is a brutal infantry slog over small distances, with both sides’ movements limited by constant aerial surveillance and attacks. Kyiv’s forces are battering away at heavily defended Russian lines, seeking to create fissures that they can widen and push tanks and other armored equipment through - WSJ